City discusses potential fixes to North Shore

During their goal setting for the city's upcoming 2014-15 fiscal year, council members agreed that the road needed to be widened to better serve pedestrians and bicyclists, needed work along its west side, some off-street private parking areas needed to be removed to improve drainage, and the street's surface needed to upgraded.

“The North Shore Road is something we've been talking about for a long time, and it certainly needs to be addressed,” Mayor Geri McCaleb said.

The nearly mile-long section of the road that’s being looked at stretches from the Grand Haven/Ferrysburg border north of the Grand River to Main Street.

City Public Works Director Bill Hunter said there are several issues related to drainage, road width and condition, and pedestrian safety.

"A lot of the drainage issues are due to the excessive paved surface areas that abut our road," he said. "(In some areas), it just looks like the whole front of the lot is paved."

To solve these issues, Hunter presented several options to City Council on Monday night, ranging from totals of $480,086 to about $1.5 million.

Hunter said he would pursue grant funding to help pay for the project, which would likely take place in several years. This would give the city time to come up with matching funds for the project.

In the meantime, city officials say they'd like to do maintenance on the road to keep up on its condition.

"My plan is to go out there and do the seams (this year)," Hunter said. "That's something we're going to do, so it gives us five years before that thing starts blowing out again."

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